


What If?

by Charlie_Harrison1806



Category: The Imitation Game (2014)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-09 03:24:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11660613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charlie_Harrison1806/pseuds/Charlie_Harrison1806
Summary: Alan Turning committed suicide in 1952 by cyanide poisoning after being found guilty of homosexuality...or did he? Let's change it up a bit, shall we.





	1. No, No, No

End of the Second World War. The muffled cheers of people could be heard outside the room. Alexander spoke to break the silence that had set. "So. What happens now?" Carincross turned away from the celebratory people outside the window on the grounds of Bletchly Park. He looked back to the group around the table. He started to walk over and the sounds of his footsteps could be heard over Alexander. "Is it...back to university I suppose, for us?" Cairncross continued his slow walk. "Yes, pretty much." Menzies spoke. "But you do have one thing left to do before your service to your government is concluded."  
"What's that?" Joan's voice asked the question on everyone's mind in that room.  
"Burn everything."  
"Burn? Why?" Alexander's voice was surprised yet calm at the task ahead.  
"You were told when you started this was a top secret program. Did you think we were joking?" Menzies continued. The thought had occurred to the others but not Alan. "But the war's over." Alan spoke up for the first time that day to answer Alexander. "This war is. But there'll be others. And we know how to break a code that everybody else believes is unbreakable."  
"Precisely. Tear it down. Light it up. Sweep away the ashes. None of you have ever met before. None of you have ever even heard the word Enigma. Have a safe trip home." Alan was in slight disbelief because it would mean losing Christopher. Everyone got up from their seats when Menzies started again. "Behave." They all turned to look at Menzies. "With a bit of luck, you'll never have to see me or one another again for the rest of your lives." With that they all left. Alan held the door for everyone and before leaving he looked back at Menzies, nodding and then leaving.


	2. The Past...I don't like it

Turing's work inspired generations of research into what scientists called "Turing Machines."  
Today, we call them computers.  
After a year of government-mandated hormonal therapy, Alan Turing committed suicide on June 7th, 1954.  
He was 41 years old.  
Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. I will not accept this. I cannot write that sort of thing. Let's go back to the court. Actually no. A bit before then. Just before he was arrested. I am changing the past.  
I refuse to accept the injustice that was placed upon the 49,000+ homosexuals who were found guilty of a crime that should never have been seen as an act against the law.


	3. Alan

Alan was in his kitchen cleaning up some fallen arsenic that slept on the floor. A detective stood behind him in the door way. After an angry and somewhat disruptive conversation the detective and the police officer left. Alan continued to clean up the mess that his lover from last night had made.  
Some hours later a police car pulled up. "Alan Turing. You are under arrest on the suspicion of indecency."  
"You mean homosexuality." The police officers cuffed Turing before taking him to an interview room. The detective from the morning entered and the two conversed before Alan asked "Do you want to play?"  
"How do we play?"  
"You ask me a question. I answer with the truth and then you judge me on my answer. Am I human or machine?"  
"What did you do in the war?" Alan made a face of, I-knew-you-would-ask-that.  
"Are you paying attention?" The detective nodded. "Good. This is going to go very quickly now. If you are not listening carefully, you will miss things. Important things. You're writing some of this down? That's good. I will not pause, I will not repeat myself, and you will not interrupt me. If you ask me a question, I will ignore it. You think that because you're sitting where you are, and I am sitting where I am, that you are in control of what is about to happen. You're mistaken. I am in control, because I know things that you do not know. What I will need from you now is a commitment. You will listen closely, and you will not judge me. When I am finished — when I have told you that I am finished — you are free to think whatever you like. But until then, you will trust that while this story will be hard for you to understand, everything I am saying, I am saying for a reason." The man nodded again.  
Alan described everything he did during the war. Every moment, every thought, every up and every down. At the end of the story the detective speaks up. "That's... Unbelievable."  
"That's the Imitation Game." Alan's voice was calm  
"I don't know what to do now."  
"Now, Detective, you get to judge. That's how the game works. I answered your questions. You know my story. That's the point of the game. We are all pretending to be something. Imitating something. Someone. And we are no more, and no less, than what we can convince other people that we are. So tell me: What am I? Am I a person? Am I a machine? Am I a war hero? Am I a criminal?" Alan looked hopelessly at the detective. "I can't judge you."  
"Well then you're no help to me at all." Alan sighed and looked away from the man.


	4. Order in the Court

"Alan Turing. You have been accused of homosexuality. How do you plea to this accusation?" The judge sat in his seat, seeming all high and mighty. Alan stood as he was told by his lawyer. "I-I p-plea..." The whole court turns to the door that has been flung open, slamming into the wall. "Your honour. You cannot convict an innocent man."  
"Who are you? Get out of this court room immediately." Alan recognized the man in the door way.  
"My name is Hugh Alexander. I have previously worked with Alan, and I can ensure you that Alan is not a homosexual." Hugh walked up to be standing but 4 meters from the judge. He turns around looking at the jury. "During World War 2, we were losing the war. England was going to lose. Only a genius could stop the war. End our suffering from the Nazi bastard called Hitler. If Alan wasn't around, we would have lost. Alan found two other people to help him along with myself and two others who were already working by his side. One of these two was a Miss Joan Clarke." Hugh motions towards the door. Walking into the court room was Joan. "Miss Clarke. May you please tell the court about your relationship with Mister Turing?" The prosecutor stood up asking Joan questions.  
"We were engaged to be married."  
"And was the relationship intimate?" Hugh was now going to sit in the stands while Joan sat in the witness stand. "Yes."  
"And how do you mean?"  
"We slept together most nights and would often make love on these nights."  
"What about the other nights? The nights you two were not sleeping together."  
"We were working on a machine along with the others in the group." The jury were nodding. Alan stood up to deny the lie Joan was saying but was not allowed to speak. The lie continued and the jury left to make a decision. when they came back the court went quite. "Have you come to a verdict?" A short man with dark hair stood. "Yes your honour."  
"What is your verdict?"  
"The jury has found that Alan Turing is innocent of the crime of homosexuality."


	5. The True Past of a Genius

Unfortunately, this is a work of fiction. Alan Turing was never found innocent of the supposed crime. Although he was a homosexual, he was an amazing man and the father of modern computers. The end of the film is the truth about the man who helped the Allies in the war. Without Turing the World would not be the way it is today. Below is the actual ending to the film.  
Turing's work inspired generations of research into what scientists called "Turing Machines."  
Today, we call them computers.  
After a year of government-mandated hormonal therapy, Alan Turing committed suicide on June 7th, 1954.  
He was 41 years old.  
Between 1885 and 1967, approximately 49,000 homosexual men were convicted of gross indecency under British law.  
In 2013, queen Elizabeth II granted Turing a posthumous royal pardon, honouring his unprecedented achievements.  
Historians estimate that breaking enigma shortened the war by more than two years, saving over 14 million lives.  
It remained a government-held secret for more than 50 years.  
I want to tell you one more thing before you leave this book, probably never to read it again. You would not be reading this book if it wasn't for Alan Turing. You would never have been able to search up shirtless photos of Benedict Cumberbatch on the internet. Alan Turing allowed for this generation to be tech savvy. He allowed for our generation to be how we are. Never forget him.


End file.
